GDP contracts less than expected

The U.S. economy shrank at a lower-than-expected rate in the second quarter, indicating that the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression is starting to ease.

Gross domestic product fell one percent, below the 1.5 percent consensus expected by Bloomberg News. As Bloomberg noted, GDP shrunk 6.4 percent in the prior three months, the steepest drop in 27 years. Data was revised to indicate that the downturn was worse than previously thought.

"Real gross domestic purchases -- purchases by U.S. residents of goods and services wherever produced -- decreased 2.3 percent in the second quarter, compared with a decrease of 8.6 percent in the first," according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.